The Boston bombings should force us to take a deeper look into how the US labels and relates to groups or people who Âuse violence against civilians for political purposes — the definition of Âterrorism consistently expressed almost in chorus by the Clinton, Bush and Obama regimes when they go to war against it.
In fact, if the Âterrorists kill civilians (often the mantra is: Âtheir own peopleÂ) as part of a campaign against governments or entities which resist US hegemony, the US regards them has having legitimate grievances and gives them support ranging from a positive press (the Uighurs of China),an invitation to the White House (Dalai Lama), and framing them as another countryÂs Âinternal problemÂ(Chechens and other Russian minorities).
At the other extreme, if they seem to have a chance at regime change of a weaker government, the US enthusiastically endorses their cause and backs them with varying intensities of raw military force (Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran and Syria). The Lesser Evil just doubled his support for the Syrian Âarmed opposition, which every day kills more civiliansÂoften with the same weaponsÂthan the Boston bombers.
In short,Âterrorism OK as long as the civilians are killed for political objectives endorsed by the US. In an earlier terminology, ÂOur freedom fighters are your terrorists and vice versa.
ItÂs not yet clear what the motives of the Boston bombers were but their familyÂs Chechen origin (their father received asylum in the US based on his activities in that regionÂs separatist wars, but reports differ on which side he was on) suggest we review the US response to those wars.
And the consistent position of the Clinton, Bush and Obama regimes has been to label the separatist wars an Âinternal Russian problem and urge the government to negotiate a political settlement. (see Jennifer Epstein, Presidents all avoided talking about Chechnya (http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obama-bush-clinton-all-avoided-talking-chechnya-90327.html#ixzz2QyKyVHo3).
During these years, the regional separatists who were originally secular, have become more militant Muslims and have joined Jihadist groups fighting in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and most recently in Syria.
The US regimes refused to label the separatist fighters as Âterrorists except for a small group identified with Al-Qaeda. Russian president Putin called out the US for dividing terrorists between Âours (those who directly threaten the US) and Âtheirs (whoÂperhaps until nowÂdid not attack the US).
In the wake of Boston, his spokesman pointedly reminded Obama that "Back at the time when we had a war raging in the Caucasus, Putin repeatedly said that the terrorists shouldn’t be divided into ‘ours’ and ‘theirs,’ they mustn’t be played with, differentiated into categories."
In fact, when the older Tsarnaev brother requested a Russian visa last year, that country warned the US to investigate his possible link to what they — but not the US — consider to be Âterrorists. The FBI found no threat but DHS delayed his application for US citizenship. He returned to the US on his permanent resident ÂGreen Card.Â
Coleen Rowley, Chechen Terrorists and the Neocons, (http://consortiumnews.com/2013/04/19/chechen-terrorists-and-the-neocons) has discovered a 2004 article in the Guardian UK (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/08/usa.russia) which exposed an ÂAmerican Committee for Peace in Chechnya/Caucasus composed of the same neocon warmongers whose rants and lies underlay the invasion of Iraq.
The committee openly urged support for the separatists as a weapon to weaken Russia and evidently influenced the US refusal to label the Chechen terrorists as Âterrorists.Â
April 21, 2013
Michael Munk is a former editor of the National Guardian newsweekly
www.michaelmunk.com